Tourist killed in bus crash in Cuba

A bus crash in eastern Cuba has left at least seven people dead, including four foreigners, and dozens others injured, local media say.

Two of the foreigners were from Argentina while one was from France and another from Germany. Some 33 people were injured, including citizens from the UK, the US, Canada, France, the Netherlands and Spain.

The bus was carrying 40 passengers, including 22 foreign tourists

The bus was travelling from Baracoa to the capital, Havana, when it crashed near Guantánamo on Thursday.

The driver told local media that he was driving slowly and lost control due to a wet road at around 15:00 local time (20:00 GMT). Witnesses said he had tried to overtake another vehicle. The bus from the state-owned company Viazul was carrying 40 passengers, including 22 foreigners.

The victims included two Argentinean women, aged 35, a 59-year-old German woman and a 67-year-old Frenchman, according to a list published by Radio Guantánamo.

The Cubans were two men, aged 32 and 47, and a 34-year-old woman. Meanwhile, five of the injured were said to be in critical condition in hospital. Their ages range from 42 to 74.

The UK Foreign Office said in a statement it was continuing to seek further information from the Cuban authorities and was providing assistance to two British nationals who were injured.

Viazul is run by the military’s tourism wing and is one of the preferred ways for visitors to travel the island, the BBC’s Will Grant in Havana reports.

Cuba’s roads are notoriously poor with many of them badly-lit and poorly maintained, especially in that region of the country, our correspondent adds.

Traffic accidents are common in Cuba and have resulted in some 4,400 deaths since 2012, according to official data. (BBC)